Native Zionsville Skydiver Wins Second World Championship

Zionsville native Curt Bartholomew has once again earned the title of World Champion of Canopy Piloting after beating out more than 100 other competitors from 28 nations at the World Parachuting Championships held last week at Skydive City Zephyrhills, outside of Tampa. Bartholomew won the overall gold medal, as well as gold in the speed event and bronze in the accuracy event.

Bartholomew won his first World Championships in Dubai, U.A.E., in 2012. This year’s World Championships came to the U.S. for the first time ever. Bartholomew earned his slot on the U.S. Parachute Team, the country’s most elite aerial athletes, earlier this year at the U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships of Canopy Piloting, also at Skydive City.

In canopy piloting, often called “swooping,” skydivers fly high-performance parachutes that can generate high vertical and horizontal speeds. By performing speed-inducing maneuvers, these very experienced skydivers can glide inches above the ground for hundreds of yards at speeds approaching 90 mph.

The canopy piloting championships include competitions in speed, in which pilots try to fly as quickly as possible through a course; distance, which involves flying as far as possible across the ground; and accuracy, in which canopy pilots must stop on an exact spot for maximum points.

Bartholomew, 28, has completed an astounding 6,300-plus skydives and trains at Skydive DeLand in Florida.

Interviews with Bartholomew and aerial photos and video of him in action are available upon request.

Skydive Like a Pro

For sheer excitement and high-speed fun, no sport comes close to skydiving. Fortunately, this high-flying adrenaline sport is not as extreme or intimidating as it may seem. Just about anyone 18 years of age or older can take to the skies after some comprehensive safety instruction. In fact, all it takes is a half hour of ground school to prepare for a tandem jump, the easiest and most popular way to experience skydiving for the first time. Tandem jumping allows students to experience the thrill of freefall from 13,000 feet while securely harnessed to an experienced, licensed instructor.

Another first-jump method called Accelerated Freefall (AFF) allows students to jump solo right away—with two instructors at their side—after four to five hours of intense ground instruction. Just about anyone can earn a license in as few as 25 jumps!

For more information on skydiving and to find a USPA Group Member skydiving center near you, visit www.uspa.org.